The present invention relates to a propeller shaft for a vehicle, more particularly, to a vehicular propeller shaft capable of absorbing energy from an impact by being deformed laterally of a longitudinal axis of the vehicle.
Known propeller shaft arrangements for automotive vehicles are sometimes arranged such that the shaft will deform along a longitudinal axis thereof in the event of a load being placed on a front end of the shaft. A disadvantage with energy absorption via axial deformation is that the overall distortion of the propeller shaft under an axial load is somewhat unpredictable, thereby limiting what other automotive components can be placed in the vicinity of the propeller shaft.
There is, therefore, seen to be a need in the art for effectively isolating at least a portion of a propeller shaft from energy absorbing consequences of an axial load applied to the shaft.